Otomí
/ˌoʊ.təˈmiː/noun
A member of an Indigenous people of central Mexico, or the language traditionally spoken by them.
Did you know?The Otomí people traditionally call themselves Hñähñu, Hñöñho, or Ñuhu, depending on the region; “Otomí” is an exonym transmitted through Nahuatl and Spanish.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian period
Oto-Manguean languages
Hñähñu / Hñöñho / Ñuhu
“Endonyms used by different Otomí communities; their meanings and forms vary by dialect.”
Classical Nahuatl
Nahuatl
otomitl
“The Nahuatl name for an Otomí person; its deeper internal etymology is uncertain.”
16th Century
Spanish
otomí
“Spanish adoption of Nahuatl otomitl as the name of the people and their language.”
16th–17th Century
Colonial Spanish
otomí
“A widely used administrative and ethnographic designation in New Spain.”
Modern English
English
Otomi / Otomí
“An English ethnonym and language name, often retaining the Spanish accent in scholarly and cultural contexts.”